Phoenixville DUI car chase lands Pottstown man in prison

WEST CHESTER — A Pottstown man who led Phoenixville police on a crash-filled car chase last year will spend the next several months behind bars.

William Shawell Jr., 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of fleeing or attempting to elude police and driving under the influence in the June 10, 2012, incident in which he crashed into at least 10 parked cars and a police patrol cruiser when an officer tried to pull him over.

As part of a plea agreement worked out between Shawell’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Lauren Holt, and Assistant District Attorney Max O’Keefe, Shawell was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in Chester County Prison for the fleeing charges and a concurrent 72 hours for driving under the influence. He was taken from the courtroom to begin serving his sentence.

According to an arrest affidavit filed by officer Elizabeth Glennon of the Phoenixville Police Department, she spotted a green sedan with out-of-state plates leaving a parking lot on Prospect Street in the borough about 2:10 a.m. on June 10, driving at a high rate of speed and swerving. As she followed the car, it struck a telephone pole and then made a turn onto Gay Street without stopping at the intersection.

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When Glennon tried to pull the driver over, the car sped up and struck an unoccupied car at the intersection of Gay and Morgan streets. Shawell backed up and attempted to turn onto Morgan Street going the wrong way, but jumped the curb and hit another car, police said.

As it headed the wrong way on Morgan, Shawell’s car struck several other parked cars, Glennon said. As it reached the area of Washington Avenue and Main Street, it struck another parked car and then drove on the sidewalk, striking the same car again. The driver backed the car up, hitting Glennon’s cruiser, and then tried to drive away, striking three more vehicles, the officer reported.

Shawell’s car became stuck between two of the cars he hit, and Glennon and other officers who had responded to the scene were able to turn off the car and remove Shawell from the front seat.

Glennon said in her complaint that she recognized Shawell from an earlier incident outside a social club on Prospect Street, at which time he appeared intoxicated. He was taken to Phoenixville Hospital where he was treated for injuries he suffered in the crashes. His blood-alcohol level was later found to be in excess of .30 percent, more than three times the legal limit.

Glennon reported that several of the cars Shawell crashed into had to be towed and were seriously damaged.

Bortner, in sentencing Shawell, agreed to allow him to be eligible for work release after serving six months in prison.